Elmhurst College rallies in support of Muslim student attacked by masked man

October 11, 2008|By Gerry Smith and Russell Working, TRIBUNE REPORTERS and Tribune reporters Steve Schmadeke and Jeremy Gorner also contributed to this report.

Tensions that had been boiling at Elmhurst College spilled over this week amid reports that a Muslim student had been physically assaulted by a masked gunman.

The 19-year-old sophomore said she was hit with a gun in a bathroom in the college's science center Thursday night, authorities said. Anti-Muslim graffiti was written on the wall, authorities said, similar to a threat written on the same student's locker the week before that said: "Die Muslims, Rid us of your filth."

As officials at the private college affiliated with the United Church of Christ on Friday called the incident a hate crime, hundreds of students rallied to show solidarity with their Muslim peers, who constitute about 25 of the school's 3,300 students.

Elmhurst police are investigating, but declined to comment. Friends said the student had hired a lawyer, who did not return calls for comment.

A college spokesman said authorities have not found any witnesses of the attacker, who was described by the woman as a 5-foot-8 male wearing a mask and gloves.

The woman's father said Friday that she said the gunman asked her: "'Now who is going to protect you?'" He said his daughter replied: "'God will protect me. ... You can kill me, but you cannot take my soul.'"

Students have reported tensions on campus since students held a Sept. 18 rally to protest the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, and several witnesses reported that three female Muslim students, including the woman who reported the attack, were harassed and verbally threatened.

Since then, "it's all kind of spiraled out of control," said Soofia Ahmed, president of the Muslim Students Association.

After students were outraged by the graffiti on the woman's locker, they staged a second rally Thursday, and the woman read a poem she had written about the events. Afterward, she said she was attacked.

"This is a blow against our entire community," Elmhurst College President Alan Ray told students at Friday's rally.

Carly Notorangelo, a friend of the woman, said she received a text message from her at 8:47 p.m. that said: "Emergency," and referenced the Schaible Science Center.

Notorangelo said she found her friend lying face down, unconscious with her glasses knocked off. There was no blood, she said. She called campus security and 911.

Another friend of the woman said she sought treatment at an area hospital.

Ray said the college is beefing up security, including foot and car patrols by Elmhurst police and campus security offering to escort Muslim students around the campus.